i 9 4 



Federated Malay States were commenced about four years ago, 

 and tapping on a large scale is anticipated by the time the trees 

 are eight years old. New plantations are being formed as fast as 

 seeds are obtainable, but the supply is not equal to the demand. 

 The tree from which the rubber I am sending you was taken is 

 sixteen years old, but in good soil such as most of the planters are 

 using, the trees will be quite as large in eight or ten years. Ours 

 is growing on a dry gravelly bank, conditions quite the opposite of 

 those under which it naturally grows, so far as one can judge from 

 the reports of those who have seen it growing in Brazil. Here it 

 will grow anywhere, though of course not equally well in all places, 

 and there is no doubt that in the future this country will have to be 

 reckoned with as regards rubber. As a field for investment in this 

 particular cultivation it would be hard to beat. Land is abundant 

 and cheap and roads, railways and rivers afford easy access to all 

 parts of the Malay Peninsula. 



C. CURTIS, F.L.S. 

 Superintendent of Forests Section 



Botanic Gardens. Penang, 

 Straits Settlements. 



September 24th, igoi . 



Comment by the Editor 



The tree from which was obtained the sample of rubber referred 

 to above was stated, in the annual report of the botanic gardens 

 for 1900, to be 55 feet high, with a circumference, at 3 feet from 

 the ground, of 66 inches. The record of yield of this tree, as stated 

 in the annual reports, is as follows, the tree having been tapped for 

 14. alternate day as in each of the seasons mentioned. 



lbs. oz. 



November-December, 1898... ... 3 o 



April-May, 1899 ... ... ... 2 8 



November-December, 1899... ... 3 4 



October-November, 1900 ... ... 3 12 



August-September, 1901 ... ... 2 o 



Total ... 14 8 



From the same reports it is to be inferred that the rubber pro- 

 duced has been smoked with coconut husks after first having been 

 allowed to coagulate and then rolled into thin sheets. Where the 

 rubber milk has happened to contain rainwater, alum or spirits of 

 wine has been used to hasten coagulation. The method of coagu- 

 lating rubber on the Amazon is by submitting the fresh latex to 

 the hot smoke of palm nuts, quite a different method from that 

 employed by our Penang correspondent. 



The Penang rubber has been examined quite carefully, and is 

 worth about 60 cents a pouuJ, with fine Para at 80 cants a pound. 

 In fact it does not resemble fine Para very strongly, but is much 

 more like Pernambuco. The rubber is much softer than fine Para, 

 or even than coarse Para, and has nowhere near as strong fiber. In 



